Banjo mute



4, 1930. 'C W PERSON ET AL BANJO MUTE Filed June 6, 1929 0/77576. .gaatsa;

A TTORNE Y.

Patented Nov. 4, 1930 UNITED STAT-ES PATENT OFFICE CHARLES W. PIERSON,CECIL Y. FITZGERALD, AND

GEORGE E. TI-IOMAE, F LUS AN- Genus, CALIFORNIA, assreuoas or ONE-FOURTH"ro ROBERT D. PEAR-son, or Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA BANJO MUTEApplication med June e, 1929. serial No. 368,795.

This invention relates to a mute attachment for a banjo which is adaptedto mute the tone of the instrument simply by changing the positionthereof and without itbeing neces- 5 sar f for the musician to alter theposition of his hands while playii'ig the instrument.

An object of th'e invention is to provide a device of this characterwhich is an improvement upon other devices of its class with respect tosimplicity vof construction and dependability of operation, and which atthe same time may readily be attached to banjos already on the market.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device which willeither diminish the tone of the banjo or completely mute it, at the willof the musician, the extent to which the sound is deadened dependingupon the angle to ,which the banjo is tilted., j

Other objectsand advantages may hereinafter appear. Y y j Referring tothe accompanying drawings,

which illustrate what is at present deemed v to be a prefe redembodiment of the invenii tion F l is an end elevation of the device,

the position of the membrane or head of the banjo whereinthe deviceisvmounted being indicated by dotted lines.

f Fig. 2 is a side elevation looking at Fig. 1 from right to left, themembrane of the banjo being omitted. l g

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional detail on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. j l r 3L Fig.4 is a crosssectional detail on line 4&4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is afsection on line 5-5 of Fig. 3. Fic, n

r o is back view of a complete banjo showing the device mounted therein.i Referring in detail to the drawings, the device comprises a frame orbase 7 which is supported withinthe banjo head 8 by means of the pair'of Yrods 9 which form a part of the b anjo.

Said base 7 is securely clamped to and between said rodsA 9 by means ofa clamping device V'cempraising affollower 14, screwvbolt 15, sleeve 16andthuiiib nut 17. Said clamping .device kalso comprisesa spacingelement 18 which is provided at each end of the' follower 14 with a`ears 19.

From one side of base 7 extends an arm to the outer or upper end ofwhich, as viewed in the drawings, is pivotally secured-by a pivot bolt25, a. pendulum 26 which carries at its free end a counter` weight 27.

Said pendulum 26 is provided with a guide plate 28 held against. spacingsleeves 29 by means of screws 30 which are screwed into a bracket 31attached to the recited arm 9.

Said pendulum 26 has attached thereto an arm 35 which operates they muteproper as will be described later. Said arm 35 is desirably a flat metalstrip which is secured to the pendulum 26 by screws 26n and 26b andwhich is provided throughout its projecting portion with a part 36which, by a twist 37 is disposed at a right angle to the part thereofwhich is attached to the pendulum 26.

The arm 3611s adjustable in order to control its action upon the partswith which it cooperates.V For this` purpose the screw or rivet 26b actsas a pivot, the screw 26at is threaded into the arm, and an adjustingslot 26 is provided in the pendulum, said screw 26j extending looselythrough said slot and when screwed down serving as a clamp to hold thearm 36 in the desired position.

rdjustably secured to the upper face of the base 7 is an angular clip 40the upper end of which carries an elongated bearing 41 which supports anoscillatory shaft 42, one end of said shaft projecting beyond saidbearing and being there provided with an singularity projectingoperating arm 43, the outer end of said arm being preferably providedwith an antifriction sleeve 44. wiere it is engaged bythe mute operatingarm 35.

The adjiistability of said clip 4^' allor l ed by providing in the baseportionL thereof slots through which loosely entend the screws 40')which are screwed into the lbase "i".

The oscillatory shaft 42 also has iiied thereto means for supporting themute proper 45.

Suc-h supporting means comprise the supporting arm 46 which carries atits free end the pivot arm 47 which in turn pivotally support-s mutedisk by means of the mute bracket 48.

its entire face portion kproper isin its retracted position',

The return movement of the mute proper is accomplished by means of thetension coil spring 50. Said coil spring' 50 may be anchored at one endto the base 7 by means oi a clip 5l and at its other end is attached toopposite side thereof, andthe operating arm arm 46.' v

When, by varying the position olf thebanjo, the base 7 and the partscarried thereby are moved Vwith relation Htothe pendulum, the arm ot'Vsaid, pendulum.willac't'upon'the arm 43 and will oscillate the shaftthereby swinging the mute proper 45 against the j banjo membraneindicated by dottedlines in Fig. l. Owing to the mute proper 45 be,A ingpivotally mounted' upon its" supporting shaft 47 it will readilyadjustitsell so that will press againstthe banjolmembrane 55. A wealrleaf spring (SO l'is `provided to hold the mute proper paral- .lel'tothe ,banjo'm'embraneom when said mute thus insuring that noI portion ofsaid mute properwill Itouch the membrane kof V,the Y banjo at' suchtimes. .,Said leaf spring GO is shown secured .to'a screw-,6l whichisattached to the outer end of sl'iaft42.` Y Y ik The action of saidspring upon the mute proper Vwillbe understood best byreference -toFig".V '5 where the positionjoil the vmute vproper with relation to thearm46 is :that

Vposition which these parts occupy with rela- .tiont'o each otherwhenthe arm 46 1s in its fully retracted position, or else the lower edgeloi the mute as'fseen in Fig.; 5 is just beginning to contactrwith thesurface of the banj o `membrana -W-heii, after suchcontact has begun,the arm 46 has vbeen swung upon its shaft 61 towardthe membrane of jthebanjo, the mute proper 45'will rock farther i upon itspivot 47 untilall portions ci' yits 'ace contact with. thevmembrane of the banjo.v Theaceof the mute proper is preferably provided with a cork layer v45awhich is'secured toametalplate.A

The operation otthedevice need not be urtherdescribed except to stateythat ifthe .banjo `drum. is not tilted sufciently to bring the entireface portion of the mute yproper f into-contact with. the banjomembrane, then only apartial muting of L. place. I Hence .Y the.musician may the-sound will taire either merelyidiminish the tone of thebanjo or com- '.pletelygmute it, atwill, the extent to which theisoundisdeadened depending uponthe .angle towhieh the banjo is tilted.

By oscillating the banjo while the instru-v ment isbeing played and atthe same. time isl being held in such a position that the muteVV properis only inapproximate contact with the banjo membrane, arelativeoscillation is- 'produced between the pendulum Vand the parts:operatively ,connected therewith, thus Acausing themute propertorepeatedly engage .v

and 'disengage the banjo membrane thereby producing a vibrato toneeffect.V

It will be observed that the pivot 25 of pendulum 26 is locatedrelatively near one side of the banjo head while the pendulum weight 27swings close to the diametrically 1. In adeviceoi` the characterdescribed,

a frame,"means to support said frame within a banjoin iXedrelation-thereto, a pendulum mounted on'- said frame, a movableV mutemountedwlon,saidframeto swingat right anglesto the plane Ainwhiclfl-saidpendulum swings, means tovtransmita swinging ,move-v mentirom` saidpendulum to said mute to Abri'ngsaid.mutemto contact Awith the membraneof thebanjo, andmeans operable byv a manual movement'A of 'the'Vinstrument y to Y retract, said mute froin'the vposition wherein itengagesthe meinbraneof the banjo.

2.1In a device of the character described, a frame, means tosupport'said frame within a banjoin fixed-relation thereto, pendulummounted onsaidframe, a Vmute supporting frame mounted on thefirst'recited frameto swing in a. plane at right angles to the plane inwhich said pendulum swings, ajmutecarsoA riedby said'm'ute supportingframe, an arm Y Acarried-.by saidgpendulurnto swing said mute supportingframe to bring saidv mute into contact Vwith thefmembranes of the;banjo, v and means operable by a wmanual vmovement -of kthe instrumentto rctract'said `mute and its frame.4 y v f f3. VIn a deviceofthecharacter described, in combination, al banjo'body and its membrane, agravity operable plate tov mute said membrane, meansnormally to supportVsaid plate spacedv away from and parallel tosaid membrane, saidsupportingrmeans comprising means to pivotally support-said plate, meansto swing said platey supportingrmeans toward'the banjo membrane tocausean edge portion of saidplate irst to comeiintoicoir j tact with saidmembrane and then; the entire-face oisaidplateto contact therewith, anda spring-to restore said plate to parallelism with said membranaup'onits Vcomplete withdrawalV from contact therewith.

,inY combination, af banj obody andl its membrane, a support mountedwithinfsaidfb'ody, a plate mounted upon saidsupport, said `plate Vbeinglbodily 'movable'to and tromv a position in Ywhichfitsfiface;portioncontacts with :said membranegand.- being also .tiltable about f aIfaXis;extending transversely. there-` of, swinging gravity ,controlled mf ,toVj move'sad' plate inte-andi out v-O Contact With 1 ,'4L'In a device ofthe character described, n

said membrane, and a spring to restore said plate to parallelism withsaid membrane When said swinging means is in the retracted position.

5. In a device of the character described, in combination with thevheadand membrane of a. banjo, a mute, means Within the head to support themute in operative relation to the membrane, a pendulum pivotallysupported Within the head, the point of pivotal support being,` locatedat one side of the axial center of the head, said pendulum having' aWeighted portion swingable thru a path located on the diametiicall;7opposite Side of the point of pivotal support, and means carried by thependulum intermediate its Weighted portion and point of pivotalsupportto operate the mute.

6. In a device of the character described, in combination With the headand membrane of a banjo, a mute, means Within the head to support themute in operative relation to the membrane, a pendulum pivotallysupported Within the head, the opposite end of the pendulumcharacterized by a Weighted portion, and means carried b v the pendulumintermediate its Weighted portion and point of pivotal support toslidably engage the mute supporting means to operate the mute.

In testimony Wliereoie We hereby aix our signatures.

CHARLES WV. PIERSON. CECIL Y. FITZGERALD. GEORGE E. THOMAE.

